After raising age limit, home ministry keeps 10% quota for Agniveers in CAPF, Assam Rifles

Trains were burnt, and public and private vehicles attacked, as railway stations and highways turned into battleground in many states on June 17 amid worsening protests against Agnipath.

Events so far

Protests have erupted in several Indian states since June 16 against the Agnipath scheme, which seeks to recruit soldiers into the Army, Navy and Air Force for a four-year-period, followed by compulsory retirement for most, without gratuity and pension benefits.

Since then, 24-year-old Army aspirant Rakesh from Warangal was shot to death by police in Secunderabad, trains have been burnt in Bihar, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, vehicles attacked and pelted with stones, and railways stations, rail tracks and highways blocked by squatting protestors across — in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh, and on a smaller scale in Rajasthan, Punjab and Jharkhand.

Assurances by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and the Army Chief General Manoj Pande failed to cut the ice with hordes of angry youth, carrying bamboo sticks and stones, storming railway premises across cities and small towns and laying siege to highways, creating a security scare.

Also Read | Agnipath unrest singes nation, turns train stations, highways into battleground

The Indian Railways cancelled 234 trains, while 340 have been affected due to the protests.

Students' organisations such as the CPI-ML (Liberation)-linked AISA, have called a state-wide bandh in Bihar on June 18. The opposition Grand Alliance's spearhead RJD has extended support to the bandh.

Government’s moves

This is the MHA’s newest move to assuage protestors’ ire. On June 16 night, the upper age limit for Agnipath was raised to 23 from 21 for 2022.

Home Minister Shah had said this would benefit a large number of youth, while Gen. Pande called it the “right decision”, adding that it will provide opportunity for youth preparing to join the force but couldn’t in the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in a tweet thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “his concern and sensitivity towards the future of youths”, adding that the scheme is a “golden opportunity”.

In Pics | Protestors set trains on fire to protest against 'Agnipath military scheme'

Internet services have been suspended in 12 of Bihar's 38 districts to check the spread of false news, ADG (Law and Order) Sanjay Singh said.

Following violent protests in Palwal, Haryana government suspended mobile internet and SMS services for 24 hours in Ballabhgarh area of Faridabad district as a precautionary measure.

Delhi was relatively quiet but Metro travel was disrupted with members of the Left-affiliated All India Students' Association staging demonstrations. The entry and exit gates of some Delhi Metro stations had to be closed.

Agnipath on pause?

It does not seem like the scheme is halted. Unfazed by the intensifying protests, the Army, Navy and the Air Force on June 17 announced that they will start the enrolment process under the new model by next week.

Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari told PTI that the selection process by the Indian Air Force for recruitment under the new scheme will start from June 24, while the Army said it will begin the initial exercise within two days.

The Indian Navy said it will start the recruitment process "very soon". A senior naval commander said the notification for the recruitment will be out within a week.

The three services are planning to deploy the first batches of recruits under the new scheme, both in operational and non-operational roles, by June next year, senior military officials said.

(With inputs from PTI)